January 18, 2004 Neumann Squeaks Out Repeat in Winter Spectacular III by Larry MacMillan Citrus County Speedway’s second leg of Winter Spectacular III was a 365 lap action packed drama that had some surprise finishes to kick off the 2004 racing season. Highlighted by the Super Late Model 125, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and Hobby Stocks locked fenders and bumpers for 50 lap events, Open Wheel Lites went for 40 laps and the Thunder Stocks and 4 cylinder Bombers took on the fast 3/8ths mile for one exciting night of racing. Anyone who needed a quick fix for their racing anxiety attack got it with this night of action. Five divisions qualified in time trials for starting positions in the all feature program. 4 cylinder Bombers and Thunder Stocks drew pills for their lineup. Herb Neumann Jr. proved that he was the car to beat in qualifying with fast time of 13.491 followed by Rich Pratt at 13.529 and Mike Bresnahan at 13.555. No one could touch Scott Grossenbacher’s record time of 13.343 set during the first leg of Winter Spectacular III in December. On the pill draw Neumann got the honors and drew #8 for the inversion putting Dave Pletcher and Scott Grossenbacher on the front row. Clint Slaggy and Wayne Anderson nailed down row two followed by Danny Johnson, Mike Bresnahan, Rich Pratt and Neumann. The balance of the 17 car field took the green in the order they qualified. Pletcher took the point when the green flag dropped and held on for the first 15 laps before he began to fade while the rest of the field jockeyed for position. Wayne Anderson picked up the point and set the pace for the next 100 laps that only saw 4 caution flags for a total of 9 laps and multiple changes in the run for second, third and fourth. The first caution sent Neumann and Scott Grossenbacher to the rear of the field early in the race. From that restart it was all green racing with Neumann coming back through the field working his way to 4th while the front six were lapping the rest of the field leaving only 7 cars on the lead lap at the next caution in lap 80. During the caution Neumann got a flat tire which he was able to get changed in a quick pit stop which put him to the rear of the lead lap cars in 7th again. With one old tire on board he was able to move back up to fourth before the next caution at lap 110 when he and Mike Garvey got together on the front chute. All of the front seven got their spots back for the restart. The final 15 laps were a knock down shoot out for the checkers. In lap 123 Anderson slipped on turn four, Rich Pratt nailed the four turn wall and Neumann managed to dive under all the traffic and take the lead for the restart. Wayne Anderson was unable to over take Neumann on the final two laps and settled for second over Mike Garvey, Mike Bresnahan and Jim Smith to round out the top five. Other Features Darren Jackson came from out of town and showed the locals that he knew his way around the 3/8ths mile to take the Mini Stock 50 lap main, the hard way. Starting up front and setting the early pace, he a Robbie Yoakam got together in a race for the lead off turn one and both went to the rear for the restart. Chris Thornton took over the lead and went on to lead the pack to the 48th lap before Jackson snatched it away from him for the win. Thornton held off Steve Griffin, Robbie Yoakam and Chris Hooker to lock in the top five positions over the 18 starters. Only ten Super Street Stocks took the green flag with many cars in the garage making the transition in to the new rules for the division. When the smoke cleared after 45 laps there were only three cars left with Steve Olone, Owen Leigh and Chris Cross taking the checkered flag. Twenty nine cars started the Hobby Stock 50 laps main event that saw 15 cautions and was shortened to 35 laps, many of them under caution due to time restrictions put on each of the 50 lap races. It was 50 laps or 45 minutes, which ever came first. It took 25 minutes to get the first 3 laps in the books and from there on it was a total calamity. Like most of the drivers had forgotten how to drive with the three week layoff. It definitely wasn’t a pretty win for three time Hobby Stock Champion Richie Smith who will smile all the way to the bank. David Chastain was able to keep Smith in sight for the entire race with Krystal Batson holding out for third after he father, Doc Batson dropped out of that position with a blown motor. Paul Fletcher and Don Teague finished fourth and fifth respectively. Seventeen Open Wheel Lites put on another terrific race with a last lap incident that took out the leader and awarded the next three finisher’s winner’s purses and trophies. Tennessean Doug Carrigan started up front got into a scrape that sent him to the rear of the field early in the race and he managed to make it back to the point with 15 laps to go. At the white flag Carrigan looked like a sure winner until he lost it on turn two and runner up Brian Gingras hitting him head on the back chute. Jimmy Wagner missed the mess and took the lead for the run at the checkers with Rick Lundeen making his way from being sent from the back of the pack in an earlier scrape and salvaging second. After officials looked over the situation the decision was made to give Wagner, Lundeen and Gingras the win. Erik Powell took fourth ahead of Jimmy Rodgers. Doug Carrigan was able to salvage a 7th place finish being the last car on the lead lap when it was all over. Thunder Stock Champion Pat Quick was the quickest of them all again as she fired from her third starting position and set the pace for the 21 starters in their 25 lap main event. Glen Colyer managed a distant second place finish ahead of Jerry Hoover, Tim Wilson, and John Sullivan. The 4 Cylinder Bombers opened the night with a 25 lap barn burner that had the crowd on their feet for the finish when Ric Fort and Shawn Evans finished side by side at the checkers. Evans had pretty well dominated the race until the final lap when Fort put the hammer down off turn four and took the win away from Evans. Citrus will restart the 2004 season on Saturday night February 7th with the TBARA Sprints, a 40 lap Sportsman feature and a regular race card for the Mini Stocks, Hobby Stock, Thunder Stocks and 4 cylinder Bombers. The track will be closed on the 14th for the Daytona 500 and race on the 21st and 28th before closing for the entire month of March for the Citrus County Fair and electrical maintenance work. CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS WINTER SPECTACULAR III 1/17/01 Late Model 125. – 17 Cars 1. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. – (Fast Qualifier) 2. #84 Wayne Anderson 3. #17 Mike Garvey 4. #77 Mike Bresnahan 5. #75x Jim Smith 6. # 0 Rich Pratt 7. #74 Jay Middleton 8. #28 Billy Bigley 9. #15 Mike Hinegardner 10.#68 Perry Lovelady 11.#79 Clint Slaggy 12.#90 Paul Combast 13.#75 Dave Pletcher 14.#96 Danny Johnson 15.#09 Scott Grossenbacher 16.#16 Mike Bell 17.#08 John Buzinec Mini Stock Feature – 50 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #73 Darren Jackson 2. #24 Chris Thornton 3. # 3 Steve Griffin 4. # 8 Robbie Yoakam (Fast Qualifier) 5. #1X Chris Hooker Super Steet Stock – 50 Laps – 10 Cars 1. #20 Steve Olone 2. #24 Owen Leigh 3. #77 Chris Cross 4. #07 Frank Buchanan 5. #5X Dusty Bremer Fast Qualifier - #27 Kyle Maynard – DNF Hobby Stock Feature – 50 Laps (Cut to 35) – 29 Cars 1. #42 Richie Smith (Fast Qualfier) 2. #17 David Chastain 3. #B4 Krystal Batson 4. #94 Paul Fletcher 5. #2X Don Teague Open Wheel Lite Feature – 40 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #17 Jimmy Wagner 2. #04 Rick Lundeen 3. #09 Brian Gingras 4. #28 Erik Powell (Fast Qualifier) 5. #21 Ron Towles Thunder Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #55 Pat Quick 2. # 4 Glen Colyer 3. #30 Jerry Hoover 4. #85 Tim Wilson 5. #33 John Sullivan 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 25 Laps – 11 Cars 1. # 2 Ric Fort 2. #55 Shawn Evans 3. #22 (Unknown) 4. # 3 Harold Barup 5. #33 Justin Durban Have an opinion on this story? 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